Hello, Sydney...
Oct. 28th, 2003 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenIf I had told anyone who reads this that I was flying out of Melbourne at 6:15am, I'm sure you would have laughed. I, however, was perfectly convinced this was not nearly as bad as it sounded. I was so convinced that it would give me the benefit of an extra day in Sydney without the pesky nonsense of having spend Monday there (and miss my really bitching film tute). However, this meant waking shortly before 4 am to make sure I could get my ass out of bed and do a final check of baggage and what not. Also, had to be sure to make the 4:45 am skybus to the airport. Well, PS, there was no 4:45, only a 5 am one, which meant I missed an extra 15 mins of sleep because Amy and I were too lazy to actually check to find this out before wandering over to Spencer St. Station.
We booked separately, but managed to get seats next to each other. VirginBlue is like...that airline with no frills in the US whose name escapes me at the moment. Basically, you get nothing, but you can purchase food if you like. It's almost a hybrid commuter/vacation plan, like for really dirt poor students like me and Amy (except not Amy, she has money from selling cows---uh, nevermind). Getting to sit together meant we were at the front. I mean, the FIRST row. If I leaned out my leg, I could have kicked the door, and I was sitting in the middle seat. We sat across from the stewardesses (one of whom was obviously new). Amy zonked, I just sorta closed my eyes. Flights to Sydney are only about an hour from Melbourne, which is nice. What's nicer is when they actually apologize for it being 19 degrees Celsius in the morning (going up to a balmy 25) when we came from a chilly 11 degrees.
But damn, were we tired when we got there. Amy's bad luck with baggage claim was countered by my natural tendancy to have my luggage just roll off right away despite the fact I didn't check anything. Then it was off to the train for the city. The shitty thing about the train is no discount for students who are not studying in New South Wales (bite my shiny Melbourne ass!). The COOL ASS thing about Sydney trains is that they are split level--for the price of one car, you get two levels, both reached from the level platform by stairs. It was neat-o. Also, Sydney people do care about punctuality (unlike, say, the rest of Australians) as half the train debarked for another train going to the same loop as ours because the other train was getting to go first. As in the other train left just before we did, and still half the train decided those few minutes were too precious to waste.
When we arrived in the city, we decided on one hostel only to balk at the $33/night price (that is pretty high for hostels; $20 or under is about right). Walking around, exhausted and wiped (I was completely incoherent, I'm sure), we tried one more place that was down an alley and impossible to find right away because it looked accessible from one street when in fact it was not. Sydney does not operate on a grid. It bare operates on polygons in places. It was a complete mess unless I was staring straight at a map, and even then I was fuzzy because of the hour and the whole 4-hours-of-sleep thing (I seem only to ever be able to get that much when I go away for a weekend, even when I sleep the full time, I stay up late and don't have more than 4 hours in which I can sleep anyway). The new hostel cost $28, which was not much better, but we were beat. Of course, it took a phone call for them to even respond to us (we knocked, rang the bell, got no answer, left for breakfast, called, came back), even though reception was supposedly open an hour prior to our stumbling in. Our plan was for a quick nap and then out for a general walkabout in the new locale.
Intentions, intentions. Alarm didn't go off on my phone, we slept till like 1:30, which we seriously needed, but it did cut out part of our day. Still, it was a fun walk. Amy's not big on the whole touristy aspect of, well, just about anything, so she wanted to get the stereotypical Sydney things done right away. We took a walk through the Botanical Gardens to reach the Opera House and the harbor with the bridge, got pictures from all angles, and toured the park some more. There are a LOT of flying foxes in the garden, which Amy was patently NOT okay with--flying foxes=REALLY CUTE BATS. I mean, really cute. I took about five pictures of them trying to get them flying, or the ones hanging upside down with babies--BABY FOXIES!!!! (heheheheh, at first, I thought they were eating something, but then I realized what the little wings on the mama's body were). Amy ignored me by talking to the guy she met in the Brisbane airport who apparently lives in Sydney. Amy's like that, she makes quick connections and milks 'em. He'd arranged to go to some live music, and she settled on where/when to meet him while I gurgled over the bats. Did I mention they were reeeeeeeeally adorable? And BABIES! Who doesn't love baby maminals?
Sometime when it started getting cooler and later, we made our way to where the Aquarium is, and Amy started her cooing fit over a giant inflatable on the roof of Marlin, Dory, and Bruce from Finding Nemo. Apparently, it's possibly the only movie she's seen more than once, which I only just learned--I had assumed her incessant quoting was like me, just being fan-y, but as this is the movie she's seen the most times of any in her life, it made more sense that that was why (as opposed to me thinking she'd only just seen it the once when we went with the underwater club folks). Got harangued by people wanting us to take the last water cruises of the day, and one guy for a jetboating. I almost took him up on the jetboating when he called after us that he would give us the ride at kid's prices (Carrie: IT IS HELLA CHEAP IN SYDNEY!!), which was only $35, a $15 discount, not bad. I noted to take him up on it if we made it back for a harbor cruise.
What do you do after a short day of sight-seeing? Drink. Lots. We found out that the music venue was just outside our hostel, so we went home to just wash up (and roundly decided not to spend another night in the hostel because the tv was broken in our room--so no rugby), and met a new roommate (one who had walked rather noisily in while we tried to sleep this morning). Christie, our new roommate, was a Brit who'd been working as she travelled down the coast, most recently in Brisbane. I envy her--she's spending a year working, started in Queensland and is heading south as it gets warmer, good weather for the chillier regions. We chatted lots, made some suggestions, got some, too, and headed out to a bar across the street from the music place, called Metro (not to be confused with Lloyd's Metro, which is in Melbourne). $2.50 basics. Oh yeah, we had a lot, and remained remarkably sober. Tossed back three rum and cokes, a special cocktail called a chocolate lover (a bit minty for my tastes, but chocolate sauce solves any palate problem), some others, forget which.
Gareth, the guy Amy met, met us and got us about three-four more drinks over the course of the night, but only had about two himself (granted they were doubles, but seriously, we'd had twice as much and weren't even tipsy--quite disappointing how easy it was to outdrink him). We had to wait for his friends to show up, went to Metro only to wait even longer for the specific friend who had his ticket (he had ours, but not his own, weirdo), and shot the shit with Sydney-ians to pass the time. I was a bit irate as the drinks were much more expensive at Metro and were served in teeny-tiny little cups, plus we were having to wait around (apparently not everyone in Sydney likes timetables) while bands were performing. Eventually, we did go in, not caring how long it took Gareth and his crew to get their act together. The band he'd been especially bally-hooing sucked nuts. Amy and I stood it for three songs then took off for a cheap and quick dinner without bothering to notice what happened to the others.
Kind of a damper to the day, but trust me when I say that Saturday night made up for all of it. Liz M, you know what I'm talking about...
But, much like Australian Idol, I'm going to make you wait for the good stuff with an overly long and frequent commercial breaks.
We booked separately, but managed to get seats next to each other. VirginBlue is like...that airline with no frills in the US whose name escapes me at the moment. Basically, you get nothing, but you can purchase food if you like. It's almost a hybrid commuter/vacation plan, like for really dirt poor students like me and Amy (except not Amy, she has money from selling cows---uh, nevermind). Getting to sit together meant we were at the front. I mean, the FIRST row. If I leaned out my leg, I could have kicked the door, and I was sitting in the middle seat. We sat across from the stewardesses (one of whom was obviously new). Amy zonked, I just sorta closed my eyes. Flights to Sydney are only about an hour from Melbourne, which is nice. What's nicer is when they actually apologize for it being 19 degrees Celsius in the morning (going up to a balmy 25) when we came from a chilly 11 degrees.
But damn, were we tired when we got there. Amy's bad luck with baggage claim was countered by my natural tendancy to have my luggage just roll off right away despite the fact I didn't check anything. Then it was off to the train for the city. The shitty thing about the train is no discount for students who are not studying in New South Wales (bite my shiny Melbourne ass!). The COOL ASS thing about Sydney trains is that they are split level--for the price of one car, you get two levels, both reached from the level platform by stairs. It was neat-o. Also, Sydney people do care about punctuality (unlike, say, the rest of Australians) as half the train debarked for another train going to the same loop as ours because the other train was getting to go first. As in the other train left just before we did, and still half the train decided those few minutes were too precious to waste.
When we arrived in the city, we decided on one hostel only to balk at the $33/night price (that is pretty high for hostels; $20 or under is about right). Walking around, exhausted and wiped (I was completely incoherent, I'm sure), we tried one more place that was down an alley and impossible to find right away because it looked accessible from one street when in fact it was not. Sydney does not operate on a grid. It bare operates on polygons in places. It was a complete mess unless I was staring straight at a map, and even then I was fuzzy because of the hour and the whole 4-hours-of-sleep thing (I seem only to ever be able to get that much when I go away for a weekend, even when I sleep the full time, I stay up late and don't have more than 4 hours in which I can sleep anyway). The new hostel cost $28, which was not much better, but we were beat. Of course, it took a phone call for them to even respond to us (we knocked, rang the bell, got no answer, left for breakfast, called, came back), even though reception was supposedly open an hour prior to our stumbling in. Our plan was for a quick nap and then out for a general walkabout in the new locale.
Intentions, intentions. Alarm didn't go off on my phone, we slept till like 1:30, which we seriously needed, but it did cut out part of our day. Still, it was a fun walk. Amy's not big on the whole touristy aspect of, well, just about anything, so she wanted to get the stereotypical Sydney things done right away. We took a walk through the Botanical Gardens to reach the Opera House and the harbor with the bridge, got pictures from all angles, and toured the park some more. There are a LOT of flying foxes in the garden, which Amy was patently NOT okay with--flying foxes=REALLY CUTE BATS. I mean, really cute. I took about five pictures of them trying to get them flying, or the ones hanging upside down with babies--BABY FOXIES!!!! (heheheheh, at first, I thought they were eating something, but then I realized what the little wings on the mama's body were). Amy ignored me by talking to the guy she met in the Brisbane airport who apparently lives in Sydney. Amy's like that, she makes quick connections and milks 'em. He'd arranged to go to some live music, and she settled on where/when to meet him while I gurgled over the bats. Did I mention they were reeeeeeeeally adorable? And BABIES! Who doesn't love baby maminals?
Sometime when it started getting cooler and later, we made our way to where the Aquarium is, and Amy started her cooing fit over a giant inflatable on the roof of Marlin, Dory, and Bruce from Finding Nemo. Apparently, it's possibly the only movie she's seen more than once, which I only just learned--I had assumed her incessant quoting was like me, just being fan-y, but as this is the movie she's seen the most times of any in her life, it made more sense that that was why (as opposed to me thinking she'd only just seen it the once when we went with the underwater club folks). Got harangued by people wanting us to take the last water cruises of the day, and one guy for a jetboating. I almost took him up on the jetboating when he called after us that he would give us the ride at kid's prices (Carrie: IT IS HELLA CHEAP IN SYDNEY!!), which was only $35, a $15 discount, not bad. I noted to take him up on it if we made it back for a harbor cruise.
What do you do after a short day of sight-seeing? Drink. Lots. We found out that the music venue was just outside our hostel, so we went home to just wash up (and roundly decided not to spend another night in the hostel because the tv was broken in our room--so no rugby), and met a new roommate (one who had walked rather noisily in while we tried to sleep this morning). Christie, our new roommate, was a Brit who'd been working as she travelled down the coast, most recently in Brisbane. I envy her--she's spending a year working, started in Queensland and is heading south as it gets warmer, good weather for the chillier regions. We chatted lots, made some suggestions, got some, too, and headed out to a bar across the street from the music place, called Metro (not to be confused with Lloyd's Metro, which is in Melbourne). $2.50 basics. Oh yeah, we had a lot, and remained remarkably sober. Tossed back three rum and cokes, a special cocktail called a chocolate lover (a bit minty for my tastes, but chocolate sauce solves any palate problem), some others, forget which.
Gareth, the guy Amy met, met us and got us about three-four more drinks over the course of the night, but only had about two himself (granted they were doubles, but seriously, we'd had twice as much and weren't even tipsy--quite disappointing how easy it was to outdrink him). We had to wait for his friends to show up, went to Metro only to wait even longer for the specific friend who had his ticket (he had ours, but not his own, weirdo), and shot the shit with Sydney-ians to pass the time. I was a bit irate as the drinks were much more expensive at Metro and were served in teeny-tiny little cups, plus we were having to wait around (apparently not everyone in Sydney likes timetables) while bands were performing. Eventually, we did go in, not caring how long it took Gareth and his crew to get their act together. The band he'd been especially bally-hooing sucked nuts. Amy and I stood it for three songs then took off for a cheap and quick dinner without bothering to notice what happened to the others.
Kind of a damper to the day, but trust me when I say that Saturday night made up for all of it. Liz M, you know what I'm talking about...
But, much like Australian Idol, I'm going to make you wait for the good stuff with an overly long and frequent commercial breaks.
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-28 11:54 am (UTC)But sad to say it, I like that song too. :P
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Date: 2003-10-28 11:56 am (UTC)